I look around and see everyone else is waking up. I pull the curtains to the side and jump off my bed and dig in my trunk for my school robes. I grab the robes, climb onto the bed and close the hanging curtains. After getting changed I whisper to Lily that I’ll be waiting in the common room for her. Walking down the stairs, I look out the windows and take a peek at the school grounds. I can see the Whomping Willow in the distance and the giant squid in the lake.
In the common room Violet is already there, waiting in an armchair by the fire. She asks if I’ll go down to breakfast with her. I tell her to wait for Lily. Lily descends the steps a few moments later, ready to go to breakfast.
We climb out of the hole into the hallway, heading to the Great Hall. Lily asks, “Is the mail coming soon?”
I answer, “The post comes every morning. Why?” She explains that she left her favorite hat at home.
Violet turns and I see that we’ve reached the Great Hall. I inhale, taking in all the wonderful smells of breakfast. We take a seat at Gryffindor table, Rose already there reading the Daily Prophet. “Anything good in there?” I ask.
Rose replies, “Just something about the Beast, Being and Spirit division.” I snatch the paper from Rose and skim the article. “Hey!” she shouts
“Sorry. Just a moment.” I hand the paper back. “That's different.” I explain, “Somebody wrecked the office in search of something.”
“I know,” Rose says, “They were looking for a record or something. Nobody knows who broke in or what they were looking for.” Violet passes a tray of bacon around and I take a few pieces off. As I try some, I moan in delight.
“What?” I ask, looking around the table. “We don’t have bacon at home,” I explain.
Rose’s face lights up before asking, “I need to talk to you alone.” I’m about to respond but McGonagall walks by handing out schedules. She hands one to Violet, Lily, Rose and me. I glance at my schedule to find that we have Charms at ten am and Defense Against the Dark Arts at one pm. I drain my goblet of tea before standing up.
“Come on, Violet, Lily. We’ll be late for Charms, I said.
Rose stands up and ejects, “But. . .”
“We can talk later Rose,” I add, waving her away. Rose defiantly sits back down as we walk away. The three of us wander around the corridors until we see a line of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor for Charms.
Violet curiously asks, “What does Rose seem so eager to tell you?” Lily’s eyes also ask the question.
“I don’t know,” I lie, knowing what it’s about. Flitwick walks out of the classroom, ushering us to come inside. Lily and I find a seat together while Violet sits with a Ravenclaw girl.
Flitwick begins, “Charms class is about learning practical spells that can be used in everyday life. Today we will be learning the levitation charm. The pronunciation is Wing-gar-di-um Le-vi-o-sa. The full spell’s information is on the board. Here’s a feather to practice on. Begin!” Lily and I take turns trying to make the feather float. By the end of class, I managed to get it to float a couple inches up. Lily got a few centimeters up in the air. As we pack up, Flitwick tells the class to practice the charm as homework. Violet joins Lily and I as we head to lunch.
“That was a bit more than I expected on the first day,” Violet starts.
“I knew what was coming thanks to Teddy,” I counter. We turn a corner near the Great Hall and Lily adds, “James told me that it would be easy.” I laugh.
The enticing smells of food wafts into the hallway. We walk through the large double doors, still talking about Charms class. We pull out the bench and sit at a table. I take the ladle from a bowl of soup and start pouring it into my dish. I take a sip. Rose joins us carrying an Ancient Runes textbook. I hurry and shovel the soup into my mouth. I stand up, not bothering to finish my soup. Rose is about to ask me something, but I begin the walk to DADA. Violet catches up with me. “Why’d you leave?” she asks curiously.
“Rose,” I suggest.
“Why?” she presses.
“It doesn’t matter.” Violet knows to stop when the conversation isn’t going anywhere. We reach the classroom and wait outside.
I see Lily hurrying down the corridor. She joins us and says, “Rose was mad at you for blowing her off.”
“She knows why,” is all I say.
Professor Finnigan walks out and tells us to enter. We take a seat in rows of four. “You will learn more theory than practical defense this year. You will learn how to fight boggarts, heal werewolf bites, and differentiate hags, and humans. Today you will learn about hags. Please read chapter one. Feel free to chat about the chapter with your seat partners.” Everyone digs in their bags for The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. The rustling of pages is heard throughout the classroom. After a while, Finigan interrupts the silence. “So, what have we learned?” A small boy in the back raises his hand. “Yes, Mr. Caterwall?”
“Hags are similar to humans. They prefer to eat flesh.”
Professor Finnigan adds, “For homework write five inches on hags and humans. Class dismissed.” The class stands up, packs their school bags and walks out the door.
Lily and I chat about class until we reach the common room. Rose hurries towards me as I take a seat and dump my school bag. I reach in for a quill and a piece of parchment. Rose sits on an armchair across from me. “What do you want?” I ask, dipping my quill in some ink.
“Let’s go on a walk,” Rose insists.
“I can’t,” I say as I start writing.
“Then when?”
“In a couple days,” I add with a sly grin.
“But. . .” she stops and grabs my arm.
“Let go!” I hiss.
“Not until. . . we . . . talk!” she says with effort, trying to pull me off the chair. I stand up willingly, being gently pulled by her. We climb out of the portrait hole. Rose steers me down a dead end hallway away from any paintings or students. “You’re a . . . You’re a,” she stammers. “Werewolf!”
“How long have you known?” I ask, impressed that she figured it out so fast.
“You’re not going to deny it?” she asks, very confused. I turn my head side to side. “Well for a while. I just wasn’t sure if I was right. I mean, you are almost always pale, I saw your scars and you dismiss me when I talk about werewolf laws.” Rose pales. “Did Remus bite you?” Her eyes go wide.
“No! I’ll tell you a bit.” She nods and takes a seat on the floor. I slump against the wall and slide down to sit next to her. I take a deep breath and begin, “I was seven. Greyback,” her eyes widen even more at the sound of his name, “attacked me while I was sleeping. I was brought to Remus and Tonks’ house. He recognized the wounds and treated them. Remus won’t tell me more. “ I sigh and run my hand through my long hair. Rose seems to decompress as I tell her. She looks at me sadly. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” she promises. I pull her up.
“Come on,” I whisper into her ear. I drag her back to the common room, thinking that she’s second guessing what she knew about me. We climb back into the common room. I take a seat where my bag is and continue writing my essay. Rose sits across me, staring thoughtfully into the fire.
After a while Lily walks over and tells us to come down to dinner. We walk down to the Great Hall and take a seat. The enchanted ceiling is cloudy but I can see the moon peeking out. The benches scrap against the stone periodically. Lily passes me the boiled potatoes. I dig in the steak for a rare piece but don’t find any. “Do you know where the kitchen is?” I ask Violet, Rose and Lily.
Lily’s eyes twinkle. “Ooh . . James told me.” She gives me the directions. I thank her and stand up. Rose stands up and asks me if she could come with me. I let her come, knowing she could easily tell my secret or blackmail. We make our way out of the Great Hall and find the picture of a fruit bowl. I give the pear a good tickle. The portrait swings open to reveal a bustling kitchen of house-elves.
They stop moving for a moment to acknowledge our presence before continuing. I head towards the nearest house-elf and ask where they keep the meats. Instantly several house-elves carrying trays of meat swarm Rose and me. Rose picks off a couple pieces. I smile at them, but ask where they keep the raw meat. A second later, another house-elf carrying a platter of raw meats appears at my side. Another one asks in a squeaky voice, “How would you like your meat cooked, miss?”
“That won’t be necessary,” I respond. Rose gives me a strange look. All the house-elves stop doing whatever they were doing to gape at me. They continue working after a moment. My cheeks glow red from the embarrassment. I pick up two small steaks and finish the first one in under a minute.
“Gross,” Rose mutters. I don’t say anything as I take the other one and take a large bite. Eating ravenously, I finish this steak quicker. “Can we go?” Rose pleads, unwilling to see me eat another.
I reply, “Yeah, I’m good.” We thank the house-elves before climbing out of the portrait.
“What’s with the raw meat?” Rose asks as we walk back to the common room.
“It’s just my wolfish traits coming out, thanks to the full moon soon.”
“But why?” Rose curiously asks.
“Fenrir wasn’t transformed when he attacked,” I explain.
“Oh.” We turn a corner and Snape is walking towards us.
“What are you two doing in the corridors at night?” Snape interrogates.
Rose answers, “Heading to our common room, Professor.”
“And it’s only six thirty,” I pipe in.
“One point from Gryffindor for cheek,” Snape snaps. “Miss. . .” He waits for a last name.
“Lupin,” I supply. He snickers and hands me a capped goblet.
“Remember, no sugar,” he sneers. I nod. “Now continue on,” Snape says, walking away. Rose and I continue walking towards the common room. I pull off the cap and sniff it.
“No honey or mint!” I exclaim.
“Can I smell it?” Rose asks hesitantly. I pass the goblet under her nose. “It doesn’t smell that bad. What is it?” she inquires.
“Aconite,” I answer with another name, just in case there are students or paintings around. Hoping she understands, I look at her. She nods. “It tastes really disgusting though,” I confide. We give the Fat Lady the password and climb through the hole.
“Where were you?” Lily asks, moving towards us. I take a seat by the fire and tell her that we ran into Snape. Rose tells her about the kitchen, omitting the part about me eating the steaks. I take a deep breath and gulp down the potion, nearly gagging. Rose begins to talk about her classes that she had. I move around in the armchair, positioning myself comfortably. I fall into a light sleep next to the warm fire and Rose’s droning.